Women's Suffrage, Gender Equality, And The Right To Vote

“Women, we might as well be dogs baying the moon as petitioners without the right to vote!” These were the famous words of a key leader in the women’s Suffrage Movement, Susan B. Anthony. In the past, the rights guaranteed to men were not applied to women, and therefore caused great injustice. It wasn’t until the mid-1800s that women started to take a stand and fight for their voting rights. As a result, these actions caused a positive impact in our country and now, women have equal rights as men, as it should. There are some that say that it is just another part of history and that there is no importance behind it, in other words, it is irrelevant compared to the Civil Rights Movement for example. Women’s suffrage was a positive impact through the leadership of Susan B. Anthony, their hard work and contributions, and their succession in the ratification of the Nineteenth Amendment.

They were also treated less than men and sometimes to this day we see women being treated discriminated. For example on page 68 Jane was talking to her father about how she wanted to go to college. “‘A college for women,’” Jane said hastily “‘They have lots of them now - Vassar,Smith, Barnard…’” Father was scowling and shaking his head “‘Why,that’s preposterous,’” he said. “‘Almost as preposterous as women wanting to vote.’” Well. So that was what he thought of women’s rights. A year ago ,month ago, maybe even a day ago, it wouldn’t have mattered”. Jane’s father thought this because men believed women were inferior. Education for women was uncommon, mainly because women were they ones that had to take care of the home and kids, and men would get an education. On page 150 another example of how women fought and had strikes for women’s suffrage. They were dedicated and devoted to the strike . “The police are for our protection,not our abuse, strikers seeking justice; votes for women”.The women are so passionate about having the right to vote that they are willing to stand out in the cold or heat to get their message across to the people that they should be treated equal and not like they are worthless. Men did not want women to vote because men did not believe women were intelligent and eligible to vote since they did not have a proper education to

Back in the 1900s there were limits on what women were able to do. The life of a wife and a mother back then was to clean, cook, and tend to the every need of the husband and/or children. There was very little say in the matter of what women could do especially in the government or community. At this point in the United States Women Suffrage was knocking on the door of Washington D.C by Susan B. Anthony in 1871 but little was really accomplished on paper until later in the 1900s around 1915 or so, (Stevenson).

Generations of women fought courageously for equality for decades. The ratification of the Nineteenth amendment was vindication for so many women across the country. After having spent so many years oppressed and unable to make way for themselves, women everywhere were growing tired of being unable to own property, keep their wages and the independence that an academic education gave them. The decades that ensued brought with them various female activists, men that supported them and a division of its own within the movement. The women’s suffrage movement lasted 71 years and cam with great discourse to the lives of many women who fought for the cause.

Women’s rights is apparent in the fight for suffrage in the late 1800’s-early 1900’s . It can

The entire Women’s Movement in the United States has been quite extensive. It can be traced back to 1848, when the first women’s rights convention was held in Seneca Falls, New York. After two days of discussions, 100 men and women signed the Declaration of Sentiments. Drafted by Elizabeth Cady Stanton, this document called for equal treatment of women and men under the law and voting rights for women. This gathering set the agenda for the rest of the Women’s Movement long ago (Imbornoni). Over the next 100 years, many women played a part in supporting equal treatment for women, most notably leading to the ratification of the 19th Amendment to the Constitution, which allowed women the right to vote.

The fight for women suffrage was one of the largest reform movements of the Progressive era. In the twentieth century, it was hard for American’s to understand why the right to vote was a big disagreement. Alan Brinkley, an American historian, wrote, “that woman

What were some reasons women wanted the right to vote? In the 19th century Women’s Voting Rights began when male suffrage extended in many countries. African American men achieved their voting rights before the women. Many people looked at this as sexist towards the women. After this amendment women became more determined to achieve their rights and started movements towards Women Suffrage. Many men and women tried preventing the process of Women Rights. Yet women who believed in their own rights didn’t give up hope to one day have the same rights as any other individual.

The battle for suffrage was a long and slow process. Many women tried to initiate the fight for suffrage, like Alice Paul and Lucy Burns. “These were the New Suffragists: women who were better educated, more career-oriented, younger, less apt to be married and more cosmopolitan than their previous generation.” (pg 17) Eventually, in 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified; allowing women to vote, but it was not any one person or event that achieved this great feat. It was the confluence of certain necessary factors, the picketing and parades led by Alice Paul, militaristic suffrage parties and the influence of the media that caused the suffrage amendment to be passed and ratified in 1920. But most importantly, they successfully moved both

Equal rights have long been sought out by the people of America and they continue to be chased after today. Several of our freedoms were originally seen by the Constitutional to be inalienable, so ingrained in what the founding fathers saw as American values that the Bill of Rights has set them in stone. Unfortunately for some, universal suffrage was not one of those rights. While voting was largely limited at the founding of America, citizens, namely white males, slowly gained the right to vote without discrimination towards age or social status. However, women remained barred from the ballot, regardless of race. Though the suffrage movement started as a woman’s social movement, it evolved into a driving force that would hold the power to put in place a nineteenth constitutional amendment.

Have you ever thought about how women suffered during the 1920’s? How women suffrage impacts today’s society? Women in the 1920’s suffered more than they do today. They didn’t have the same rights as men, they couldn’t vote or run for office. In today’s world women still suffer even if they have all the rights men do. Women suffrage was a substantial impact in the 1920’s and still is in today’s world.

The Women’s Suffrage Movement of the 1920’s worked to grant women the right to vote nationally, thereby allowing women more political equality. Due to many industrial and social changes during the early 19th century, many women were involved in social advocacy efforts, which eventually led them to advocate for their own right to vote and take part in government agencies. Women have been an integral part of society, working to help those in need, which then fueled a desire to advocate for their own social and political equality. While many women worked tirelessly for the vote, many obstacles, factions, and ultimately time would pass in order for women to see the vote on the national level. The 19th Amendment, providing women the right to vote, enable women further their pursuit for full inclusion in the working of American society.

As the years progressed from the 1700s into the 1800s, women started to see that they were not treated as equal as men even though they could do anything men could. During the late 1800s was when women first started to fight for more rights and equality. They started forming more and more women groups, and even went on labor strikes to protest the diversity. Although it seemed that as hard as they tried to gain this equality, the harder it was for them to obtain it. They were treated horribly and unequally to men. While African American men received the power to vote in 1870, women still did not have a chance at that right. Even though many people disagree that women were treated fairly, the studies show that they were discriminated against. The treatment of women in the late 1800s was discriminatory because they

There were also women who believed that women’s suffrage was a bad idea. They believed that, because they knew first had that women were emotional and quick to jump to conclusions, women would make quick and rash decisions that would not be good for the government (Document 7). There were also the people who believed that women were the inferior gender and were therefore weak and unable to handle the stress and difficulty involved in politics and the government (Document 11). Some people also argued that women were not supposed to be involved in politics because it was not socially acceptable. They said that women were supposed to be loved and kissed and not forced to handle the struggles of making hard political decisions (Document 12). People who argued against women’s suffrage believed that women were too weak and delicate to handle the ups and downs of political involvement.

This new generation of activists fought with this new agenda for almost 20 years until a few states in the West began to extend the vote to women. The Eastern and Southern states still refused to give in, but this didn’t stop the National American Woman Suffrage Association. In 1916, Carrie Chapman Catt, president of the NAWSA, worked vigorously to get women’s organizations from all over the country together and fight side by side. “One group of activists, led by Alice Paul and her National Woman’s Party, lobbied for full quality for women under the law” (Divine). She used mass marches and hunger strikes as strategies, but she was eventually forced to resign because of her insistence on the use of militant direct-action tactics (Grolier). Finally, during World War 1, women were given more opportunities to work, and were able to show that they were just as deserving as men when it came to the right to vote. On August 18th, 1920, the 19th amendment was ratified, allowing women to vote. This drawn-out and arduous battle opened a new window of opportunity for women all over the country. Significant changes in both social life and job availability began to create what is now referred to as the “new women.”